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Friday, February 6, 2015

Goodman’s Greatest Hits

Amy Goodman. Photo: David Belisle

Amy Goodman, the investigative journalist, syndicated columnist, and the host of the daily independent global news hour, Democracy Now!, has said “The only ground rule for good reporting I know is that you don’t trade your principles for access. We call it the access of evil.” Sticking to this principal, Goodman has been able to tackle some very interesting and often tough issues and get very candid responses from her subjects. She has written five New York Times bestselling books and has received some of the highest awards in journalism. According to Noam Chomsky, "Amy Goodman has taken investigative journalism to new heights of exciting, informative, and probing analysis." And Cornel West has called her “a towering progressive freedom fighter in the media and the world.”

On February 11, she speaks at BAM with Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood. As Goodman is well-known for not shying away from the most difficult questions with some of the world’s most powerful people, for not being afraid to get into probing discussions with some complicated public figures of our time, this conversation promises to be challenging and perhaps even revelatory. In preparation for her appearance at BAM, here are a few of Goodman’s greatest-hit interviews from the arts and culture realm:Willie Nelson discusses his Tex-Mex influence and the intermingling with country music and “Outlaw country.” He plays a version of “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”:

Pete Seeger talks about singing old-time music for Alan Lomax and activism:

Russell Brandbreaks down the War on Drugs, Robin Williams, and addiction:

Selmadirector Ava DuVernay on Hollywood's lack of diversity, her Oscar snub, and the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag:

Roseanne Barr reflects on her career as a working-class domestic goddess:

Bill Clinton confronts a number of hot-button issues at the end of his term in office (and famously loses his cool, calling Goodman "hostile and combative"):